Once More Unto The Breach
by pyrotorch246
Summary: The Master Chief is unfrozen from his cryo chamber after two years drifting in space. At the same time, after twenty years, the Spirit of Fire finds a dead ship in the middle of uncharted deep space.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: Rouge Contact

Brining Up Requested System Logs ...

Logs Require Security Clearance Alpha-001

Please Enter Password:

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Password Confirmed:

Accessing Logs ...

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Start Recording:

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Error: Data corrupted

Date Unrecoverable

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Suspected Cause Of Error:

Catastrophic System Failure

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Attempting To Load From Backups ...

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Backups Unaccessible

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System Shutdown Imminent:

Deleting Navigational Data In Compliance With Cole Protocol ...

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Task Complete: Shutting Down

The rear half of the _Forward Unto Dawn_ drifted aimlessly in uncharted space, well outside of UNSC territory. Lying dormant within the cryo bay was a single, massive figure: Master Chief Spartan II John 117. As he slept the artificial intelligence program Cortana watched over both him and the rest of the _Dawn_ so that if anyone picked up on the distress beacon within the ship they would not be taken by surprise.

Cortana had activated the _Dawn_'s remaining sensors, and made impure copies of herself to handle the few remaining weapon systems on the _Dawn_ in the event of an attack, though firing any weapons would place a considerable strain on the already damaged reactor in the extreme aft end of the damaged frigate. Without such precautions however, she and the Master Chief could be killed by anything that came across them, which would be an inglorious ending for the two heroes of the UNSC.

She had just begun to enter standby when something woke her up. An unknown contact had just appeared within the _Dawn_'s sensor range, despite the unlikeliness of anything appearing in the deep space between solar systems. The contact seemed to be broadcasting with an outdated UNSC IFF transponder, but the ship was too far out for Cortana to be able to make visual scan and confirm the ship's identity. Cortana's avatar frowned as it flickered to life on the holographic pedestal in the cryo bay, accompanied by a slight hissing as the cryo tube beside her began to thaw.

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1952 Hours February 2, 2555 (Military Calendar) /

UNSC Spirit Of Fire: Uncharted Deep Space

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Unidentified Distress Beacon : Alerting Ship's Officers

"Captain. Wake Up. Something has happened."

Captain James Cutter awoke to the hiss of thawing cryo tubes and the voice of Serina, the _Spirit of Fire_'s resident AI, who had been watching over the ship as it made it's slow way towards UNSC held space. The _Spirit_ had been rendered incapable of slipspace travel since Sergeant Forge had detonated their slipspace engines in the heart of the forerunner shield world, destroying a massive forerunner fleet before the Covenant could acquire and reverse engineer them.

Five minutes later Cutter walked out onto the bridge of the _Spirit_ and looked over the primary view screen. "Alright, Serina, bring it up on screen."

"Done. Captain, the beacon appears to transmitting from a derelict floating roughly twelve hundred kilometers of our bow." Serina appeared on the bridge holotank as a magnified view of the ship appeared on the view screen. "I wouldn't have woken you, accept that when we reached a distance of fifteen hundred kilometers a power surge ran through the wreck."

"Fine, Serina. It doesn't really matter at this point, anyways." Cutter stroked his mustache, and asked, "What do initial scans show?"

"The ship's schematics have no matches within my database, but the architecture is close to that of standard UNSC ships. It has been twenty years, sir, and they could have changed the designs in the meantime."

"Very well. Serina, wake everyone up and bring the ship up to combat alert alpha. Have Forge get his squad... " Cutter trailed of for a moment, grief in his eyes, then spoke up again, "Have Red Team prepare to board the derelict. Tell them to be prepared for possible hostile contact, and that their priority are the engines. If it's slipspace drives are intact, we'll send over a work crew to retrieve them so that we can get out of here."

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End Recording

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	2. Old Friends

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. 134 hits and 7 reviews in less than 24 hours since the prologue was posted. Also, I have been advised by a friend that my first chapter was missing an important something, so here it is:

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, which belongs to Bungie. I also do not own anything else that might _just happen_ to show up in this story, as they are the property of their respective companies. All references are intentional (If you can catch them)

Chapter 1: Old Friends

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1955 Hours, February 2, 2555 (Military Calendar) /

UNSC _Forward Unto Dawn _(Aft Section)

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The Master Chief floated out of the cryo tube that had encased him just moments previously, and grabbed a nearby weapons rack with one hand to stop his momentum. At the same time, he reached into the rack and removed a battered, but still serviceable, MA5C assault rifle from where he had lodged it before entering the tube, after the Ark.

Once he had cycled the bolt and checked how much ammunition he had, the Chief turned to where Cortana's avatar stood, looking impatient. "What's going on, Cortana?", he asked, floating over to the pedestal as he spoke.

"Its easier for me to show you than to tell you, Chief. Transmitting relevant information to your HUD now." The Chief blinked, and the sensor logs for the last five minuets appeared inside his helmet, as well as external video feed that showed a UNSC ship, which appeared to be a member of a long retired class of converted colony ships.

"Do we know their intent?" He asked, his calm voice making light of the possibility of rescue after years in space.

"No. Their IFF transponder is so old I actually don't know what the ship is, though I have a guess."

"And?"

"I think that it's the _Spirit of Fire_, which vanished after the battle of Arcadia with all hands, as well as Dr. Anders and the original Red Team."

"As in Jerome-092, Douglas-042, and Alice-130."

"The very same. If you're lucky, the S_pirit _will send them over to check out the remains of our ship. They actually appeared on sensors without any signs of using slipspace, which suggests that they are stuck using regular propulsion to return from wherever they went to. If this is the case, then they have a damaged slipspace drive. The drive on the _Dawn_ is still intact, we just don't have enough power to run it."

"Are you suggesting a switch, then? Moving our slipspace dive onto their ship so that we can all get out of here?"

"Exactly. In the meantime, prepare to receive boarders. Most of what we just covered was hypothetical anyways."

The Chief sighed. "Some things never change, do they?" he said rhetorically.

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1815 Hours, February 2, 2555 (Military Calendar) /

Pelican Dropship Delta 038 Approaching Unknown Ship

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Jerome-092, the leader of the spartan contingent embarked on the _Spirit of Fire_, placed another shell into his shotgun and prepared to exit the pelican as soon as it reached the unknown ship. For this mission he had left his preferred weapon, the Spartan Laser, on board the _Spirit_ since he didn't want to risk accidentally punching a hole through the ship's interior bulkheads.

The rest of Red Team, Alice-130 and Douglas-042, were dual wielding submachine guns, as they had done since before the Spartans linked up with the _Spirit_ over Arcadia. Jerome himself wasn't worried about the mission, since the ship appeared to have been floating in the vacuum of space for years, meaning that the chance of encountering any living crew members was nonexistent. Suddenly he heard a click over his radio, and the pilot of the dropship spoke to the entire team, "There are live weapons on that ship! Numerous point defense guns and at least two different archer missiles are confirmed as having locked onto this ship, but they haven't fired yet."

Jerome immediately reassessed the situation and then responded to the pilot, "We'll use our thruster packs for the infiltration instead, pilot. Come about and prepare to open the troop compartment."

He felt a slight change in the pelican's movement that indicated that it had turned so that the troop compartment faced the derelict ship, and the status light above the door began to flash red, indicating that it would soon be open.

"Red Team, prepare for extra-vehicular drop." Jerome smiled grimly as two acknowledgement light blinked on his HUD, and the other Spartans stood up and moved towards the door. None of them particularly liked using thruster packs in space, as the possibility of error was high and the consequences were severe. Thankfully, this time, they were moving towards a largely stationary target, while unlike the first time they had done it, at Chi Ceti, just after they had received their armor. They had jumped for a Covenant ship, but only Sam, John, and Kelly had made it. Sam had never left the ship.

The door opened, and the Spartans jumped out. They were about five kilometers away from the ship, and they gunned the thruster packs and aimed for the large hole where the ship had been split from it's froward section. When they reached it, Jerome ordered them to activate the magnetic soles on their boots so that they could move along the ship. It was slower than free floating through the corridors, but it gave them some a steady platform from which to shoot if the need arose, and made reaching difficult areas easier.

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UNSC _Forward Unto Dawn_ (aft section)

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The Master Chief crouched behind a terminal in the open section of the hull, watching as a pelican in the distance turned away from them. "Cortana, what is that pelican doing?"

"According to the _Dawn_'s sensors, the ship just turned away after the weapons locked onto it and launched something from it's troop compartment."

"Wait, they just sent people EVA?"

"Yes, and they're headed this way. Prepare for hard contact."

"I'm always prepared for hard contact. I think I'll let them land though, and see who they are."

Cortana's tone changed slightly for a moment. "You're the one calling the shots, John. All I can do is advise and hope for the best. "

John smiled to himself, but didn't respond. He knew that Cortana already knew his feelings on the matter, and that she was aware of how grateful he was to have her inside his armor, giving him the data he needed to carry out his campaign against whomever he was told to fight. He held no illusions about what rescue implied. There were still the Brutes and their followers to hunt down, even after two years, and rebels would probably start springing up amongst the remaining UNSC colonies. He was a Spartan, trained only for combat, and he knew that his life would end on the field of battle, much as the ancient Spartans had always desired a glorious death for themselves.

The Chief was still musing over the future when he heard three clunks on the deck of the _Dawn_, letting him know that his visitors had arrived. He immediately removed the assault rifle from his back plate, and silently checked that the safety was off. Just because he though the intruders were friendly didn't necessarily mean that they were.

Suddenly he heard something he had never expected to hear again on the radio. A Spartan giving orders on the UNSC battlenet, and other Spartans responding. Stoic as he was, even the Chief couldn't help but feel some elation at the prospect of finding friends he had though were dead.

When he felt the vibrations of their footsteps on the other side of his cover he stood up.


	3. Chapter 2: New Friends

A/N: People, I love getting reviews. They really inflate my ego. Keep it up.

Now, an apology for everyone who was waiting for this fic to update. I posted the first few chapters during spring break, then I was plunged straight into a hectic two months. So, now that I'm done with AP tests, SOLs (Standards of Learning, the Virginia standardized tests), and Finals, I can actually post a chapter or two before I leave on my first trip of the summer.

Chapter 2: New Friends

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1817 Hours, February 2, 2555 (Military Calendar) /

UNSC Forward Unto Dawn (aft section)

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Jerome looked around the gaping hole that had been torn through the ship when the front half had split off. Something about the damage had been bothering him since he had landed inside the derelict. As the team spread out to cover more of the exposed area, searching for any remaining life, he walked over to the edge of the hull. Something had carved through sixty centimeters of Titanium-A plating, but he couldn't tell what was responsible.

Then it hit him. The edge was completely smooth and razor sharp. The armor hadn't been boiled away by the impact of a super-heated plasma torpedo or a Covenant point defense laser. Even what little he had seen of Forerunner weaponry wasn't capable of such clean slice. Whatever was responsible for the damage was completely unknown. Jerome made sure that his helmet recorder, then called Alice and Douglas over to him and told them his theory.

They both agreed with him, but not before Douglas went over the damage himself. When they were done, Jerome led the way deeper into the ship. However, as they neared the back of the room, he noticed a terminal with lights flickering on the control panel, indicating that it was still powered. He motioned Douglas forward, since he was by far the best of the Spartans with computers, and they hadn't brought Serina or Anders with them. A green light blinked on his HUD, and Douglas move up to the console.

Suddenly, something unknown appeared on his motion tracker roughly behind the terminal. He was about to give his fellow Spartan a warning when Douglas took a step back, his arm a blur as he removed a SMG from the magnetic plate on his thigh and raised it so that it was parallel with the one he already held in his right hand. Jerome and Alice also brought up their weapons, wondering what could have survived in space for the years that the ship appeared to have been drifting.

Just before he pulled the trigger on his shotgun, Jerome heard a familiar sound on over the radio. "Hold your fire, Jerome!" It was a voice that was heavy with authority, and as far as Jerome knew, calm even in the heat of combat. The voice of Spartan-117, John, his former squad leader while they were being trained.

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UNSC Forward UNTO Dawn (aft section)

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The Master Chief stepped forward, into the range of Red Team's helmet flashlights. Though they said nothing, he could tell by their postures that they were surprised to find anyone alive on the _Dawn_, much less a fellow Spartan. They slowly lowered their weapons as it became obvious that it was really him, and Jerome drew two fingers across his faceplate as a nonverbal greeting. John returned the gesture, then he asked, "What are you here for?"

Jerome immediately responded, "We were sent to investigate the ship. Our orders were to check for life signs as we made our way to the slipspace drives. If they were intact, we were to signal the _Spirit of Fire_ so that Captain Cutter could send in a retrieval team."

The Chief said nothing, but Cortana spoke up instead, saying, "There is no one else on this ship, but the slipspace dive is still intact. You can contact the Captain and ask for the retrieval squad."

Jerome sighed and said, "At some point, you're going to have to tell us how you got here, John, but that can wait until we're back on the _Spirit_. We only have a limited air supply in our armor, and it's going to take a long time to get the reactors disengaged."

John nodded in response and gestured for Red Team follow him as they made their way deeper into the _Dawn_, towards the slipspace drives.

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UNSC _Spirit of Fire_ (observation deck)

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Captain Cutter stepped through the hatch and into what had been his observation deck before Dr. Ellen Anders had come aboard as they deployed to Harvest. She had immediately requisitioned the deck for her temporary lab, giving the Captain no reason other than that she thought the view added perspective to her work.

As Cutter entered the room, Anders looked up from a computer screen that was showing the scans of the derelict ship. "Yes, Captain? What do you want?" she said, clearly annoyed that she had been interrupted.

Cutter smiled at her response, since Anders was one of the few people on the _Spirit_ who ever disagreed with him out loud. The then responded, "Red Team just radioed in. There was one friendly aboard the ship, as well as an AI that confirmed that their slipspace drives were intact. Also, You're not going with them. You've gotten yourself into enough trouble recently."

"What?! Captain, I'm sure that your technicians are competent when it comes to blowing up slipspace drives, but there is no way I'm going to let them transfer one from one ship to another without competent supervision."

"I thought you'd say that, but I had to try, given that one of my mission parameters is keeping you safe. There's a vacuum suite for you in your quarters, and the pelicans leave in ten minutes. I suggest that you hurry." Cutter was forced to sidestep quickly as Anders left the room at speed.

Seven minutes later, Anders arrived at the hanger, meeting up with the fifteen different technicians who would be handling the drive. They were the same crew that had removed the _Spirit_'s drive when they had determined that it was the only thing in the entirety of the _Spirit_'s gear, including the arsenal, that could possibly destroy the Apex.

Now, Anders was ready to help them again, but this time they would be retrieving a drive far more powerful than the on that the _Spirit_ had previously possessed, meaning that the trip home could be completed in far less time than had been expected, something which would no doubt make the crew happy.

Silently, the technicians climbed into two different pelicans, with Anders joining them. Once the troop bay doors had closed the transports lifted off as the hanger bay doors opened, before moving rapidly out into the vacuum and towards the remaining sections of the _Dawn_.

Once in position, the small work crew disembarked, and began to move into the interior of the ship, following a blueprint that had been downloaded to the _Spirit_ by Red Team.

"Something isn't right here," Anders muttered into the radio as they passed another set of locked hatches as they continued aft into the derelict ship. "There should be more bodies. I can believe a Spartan surviving a blast that was powerful enough to cut a frigate in half, but not without there being corpses."

"I agree, Doctor," Cutter spoke over the radio, "I've been looking through the footage from Red Team's helmet cameras, and I haven't seen a single body, and yet the Spartan-117's weapon was covered in gore from a number of different species."

"That would be because all of the crew died in a ground battle on a Forerunner installation light-years away from here," a new voice cut in. Anders frowned as the voice continued to speak, knowing that there was something familiar about it but being unable to place it. "The only two to make it alive off the Ark were the Master Chief and The Arbiter of the Sangheili. The Arbiter was in the front half of the _Dawn _when it entered a rapidly deteriorating slipspace rupture. He made it through and we didn't."

"May I assume then that you are the A.I. Cortana?" Cutter asked.

"Yes"

"What were you doing on a Forerunner--" Cutter started to ask another question when Anders cut him off, "Wait! You said that there was an elite on this ship, and implied that the Chief wasn't trying to kill him. What have we missed in the past twenty years?"

"Well, it's a long story..."


End file.
